The Box Office of 9.2.11

Aliens on the Moon, or sharks in a lake? What did America choose for Labor Day weekend?

Rank	Film Title	Weekend	Cumulative	Prev. Rank
1.	The Help	$14,209,000	$118,599,553	1. ↔
2.	The Debt	$9,677,278	$11,579,068	-
3.	Apollo 18	$8,700,000	$8,700,000	-
4.	Shark Night 3D	$8,640,000	$8,640,000	-
5.	Rise of the Planet of the Apes	$7,800,000	$160,024,693	4. ↓
6.	Colombiana	$7,400,000	$21,962,122	2. ↓
7.	Our Idiot Brother	$5,182,000	$15,417,344	5. ↓
8.	Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark	$4,941,355	$16,381,544	3. ↓
9.	Spy Kids: All the Time in the World	$4,637,000	$29,036,305	6. ↓
10.	The Smurfs	$4,000,000	$131,952,612	7. ↓

Neither seems to be the appropriate answer. The Help stayed on top yet again, for the third week in a row, earning almost the same amount as the previous week which is pretty impressive for any movie. In second, third, and fourth respectively came The Debt, Apollo 18, and Shark Night 3D, all newcomers to the box office battle. Both Apollo 18 and Shark Night were vying hard for third place, earning around $8.7 million a piece. Planet of the Apes fell one slot to number 5, while Colombiana fell hard from second to sixth in its second weekend out. Our Idiot Brother didn’t drop quite so far, taking seventh, while it seems audiences are actually Afraid of the Dark, letting the horror title drop five slots from 3 to 8. Finally, Spy Kids 4 and The Smurfs came in ninth and tenth, dropping three spots from last week.

So my predictions got all jumbled up again for the fourth week in a row (I think). The Help has proven to be quite a resilient film, taking first as predicted, but Shark Night was not as popular as I was thinking, in fact it turned out that Apollo 18 was more popular than I expected (despite my review). And then The Debt came out of nowhere to take second, totally unexpected. It seems as we move further and further away from the summer blockbusters, one of which hits shelves this Friday, the ability to gauge the success of newer films is getting harder and harder. This Friday we’ll get to choose from Contagion, Warrior, and Burke and Hare. Considering the star studded casts heading to the theaters, I’m thinking 1) Warrior 2) Contagion 3) The Help 4) Burke and Hare 5) Bucky Larson.

Are you considering checking out Apollo 18? You may want to read our [review] first, just in case. If you’re looking ahead to see what’s to look forward to for the rest of September, here’s a quick list: Drive, The Lion King 3D, Moneyball, Abduction, Killer Elite, Dream House, and 50/50. There looks like a few gems may be hidden among the first line up of the fall. What do you think? Stay cool/warm movie goers.